TORONTO — Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk has a hit song on the radio right now — but you won’t hear her voice on it.
The track, “Feel This Moment,” appears on Pitbull’s album Global Warming and features the vocals of Christina Aguilera.
Kreviazuk is one of seven writers credited on the song (not counting the members of ’80s pop band a-ha whose “Take On Me” is sampled).
The Winnipeg-born mother of three — she’s been married to Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida since 1999 — said Wednesday the dance track is really just “an organic, folky, Canadian girl song.”
Kreviazuk shared part of the original version of “Feel This Moment” on the first of three straight days as guest host of the national edition of Global’s The Morning Show.
Kreviazuk, 39, has released six albums of her own since 1996 and collected Juno Awards in 2000 for Best Pop Album and Best Female Artist.
Writing songs for other performers gives her a different kind of satisfaction.
Kreviazuk has helped pen songs for artists like Kelly Clarkson, Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood and Josh Groban.
“I go to a place of just letting go and writing something that I would never write for me,” she said. “So it’s incredibly cathartic and fun.”
Kreviazuk also collaborated with Toronto rapper Drake on a track for his Take Care album — and she’s anxious to give him more material.
“I send stuff to Drake and I just don’t hear back,” she said. “One day I’ll send him something and he’ll be like, ‘I dig this.’ Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see. You just keep going.”
Kreviazuk admitted it’s hard to protect the songs she offers to others. One well-known rapper, who she declined to identify, evidently loved one of her songs and rapped on it — only to later put the rap on a different song.
“Meanwhile it was my song that inspired him,” she said.
In 2007, Kreviazuk was embroiled in a public feud with Avril Lavigne over a song on the latter’s album The Best Damn Thing.
“I sent her a song two years ago called ‘Contagious,’ she told Performing Songwriter, “and I just saw the track listing to this album and there’s a song called ‘Contagious’ on it — and my name’s not on it. What do you do with that?”
Kreviazuk later apologized, issuing a statement that read: “It was not my intention to call Avril’s songwriting ability or ethics into question.”
Without referring to that situation, Kreviazuk said Wednesday it stings when other artists claim her work as their own.
“It’s frustrating,” she admitted. “It hurts because you know you’ve given someone an inspiration or an idea but they’re usurping it.”
Chantal Kreviazuk is special guest host of The Morning Show on Global on May 23 and 24.
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